Sunday, March 22, 1998
It was almost as good as being there.
Though nothing could have matched the drama at the Commonwealth Convention Center in Louisville, Ky., where UC Davis won the national championship Saturday, watching it on the big screen Saturday morning at The Graduate came pretty darn close.
Darn close.
With about 400 standing-room-only fans squished into the Grad close enough to each other for a shampoo-sniffing contest, it was as electric in Davis as 3,000 miles away. Team Aggie boosters, the Aggie Pack and athletes from other sports made up the raucous contigent of basketball fans.
Anything and everything UC Davis that appeared on CBS' broadcast was cheered wildly.
Was there tension? You bet. Women's basketball player Nicole Dubriel was watching the game at her house and had to go to the Grad.
``I was sitting at home, and I just couldn't take it anymore,'' Dubriel said. ``I had to come down here and be with my teammates.''
Assistant football coach Greg Chapla couldn't stay seated. He kept hopping up and down, much like everyone else in the room who was lucky enough to have a seat.
Of course, when Jason Cox swished a top-of-the-key 3-pointer to give UCD its last lead in what will go down as the biggest basketball shot in UC Davis history, no one was sitting.
As the ball hung in the air, everyone's arms went up in slow motion, and when the ball tickled the bottom of the net, those arms flailed crazily to begin an early celebration.
People traded high fives and hugs as students danced on the tables. With less than a minute left, Kentucky Wesleyan took the ball up the floor, and the chants of defense from the Grad were so loud the Aggies might have heard them in Louisville.
It must have helped, because the Panthers turned the ball over.
Then it was up to Dante Ross to seal the game from the free-throw line. After he hit his fourth in a row put it out of reach, ``GO AGS, GO AGS, GO AGS'' echoed throughout the Grad.
When Chris Vlasic dribbled out the clock, the sound system went haywire. ``Celebration,'' ``We Will Rock You,'' and ``We Are the Champions'' filled the Davis hangout.
The loudest cheer, however, came when the blue and gold banner reading ``Cal Davis'' (we'll let them get away with that because we're in a good mood today) was raised to the rafters at Commonwealth with all the other championship banners of years past.
``A lot of us couldn't go out with the Aggie Pack and Band-uh,'' said Brian Rocca, better known as Indiana Aggie during home games. ``But we had our own little party here. The guys who went, it's something they'll never forget, but to watch this on the 9-by-9 big screen with commercials and the CBS soundtrack, this is big time.''
One of the Pack at the game, UCD alum Mark Honbo, who has to be the biggest Aggie fan ever, acknowledged all of us stuck at home.
``Greetings to the Grad,'' read his sign.
Of course, Aggie Packer Pete Asselin knew the best way to get on national television -- employ the network's letters.
Cox
Blox
Shots
By the way, did any students really care that it is finals week? Not a chance.
``I have a final in an hour, but I wouldn't miss this for the world,'' said Kristin Coolidge, a women's basketball player who also does an excellent job as a KDVS radio commentator. The station broadcast live from the Grad at halftime and postgame while play-by-play guy Chris Bader got a much needed break from his exemplary work.
Speaking of halftime shows, wait until Ross hears what coaching legend Dean Smith had to say about him on national TV.
While watching highlights of Dante in transition, Smith said, ``Dante Ross is a Division I player, even at the top level.''
After the game, Smith said the Aggies would be competitive in Division I. Compliments from the highest source.
I've seen many UCD sporting events in my nine years in Davis. Most of them I've seen in person. I'm sure it was great to actually be in Louisville, but even by satellite, this moment tops them all.
As assistant coach Brian Fogel would say, it's a great day to be an Aggie.
-- Marc Erwin is sports editor of The Enterprise. Phone: 756-0800, ext. 249. Fax: 756-1668. Mail: 315 G Street, Davis, CA 95616. e-mail: marcjerwin@aol.com
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